Friends and enemies
by FOA2096
Summary: What happens in the aftermath of district 9, what happens when wikus meets an ally, can he trust him, you will find out. Rated M for violence, raunchy themes and swearing. Reviews welcome
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 Running,running,i had to keep running, bullets whizzed past me, sending my antennae into a frenzy, my legs moving in long strides towards the houses in the distance, the MNU soldiers were getting exhausted but i wasnt, not with my life on the line.  
I sprinted towards the houses even faster, never turning, just running, I managed to run around the back of the houses, one had a shed in its sham of a back garden, too obvious but what choice did i have. I darted inside and shut the door behind me, ducking away from the broken window of the shed. The grunts, too exhausted from the sprint pulled up their radios "we lost the prawn" a shorter guard said, both suddenly moved their heads away from the radios, obviously whoever took charge after Koobus wasnt much better. The guards trudged away slowly but i stayed in the shed for what seemed like an eon.  
Slowly, tentatively i peered through the shattered mirror, no-one in sight, i stepped out of the shed and stretched my long legs, the shed was only tiny even for humans i walked towards the house whos shed i hid in, it was a fairly large house made of old bricks, it had a large back door and a large but nevertheless atrocious garden with stone slabs creating a zig zagged path over the mud and grime. It had 2 windows in the back, one at the top of the house and one looking into a clean kitchen.  
I rested against the back door, adrenalin only holds off exhaustion for so long, i felt sleep taking hold and i didnt fight back, just as i slipped under i felt the door disappear from behind me and the sound of whooshing air.  



	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 I awoke with a pounding headache, oddly i was not on the floor but a well furnished bedroom, the walls were a cream colour and the bed was soft, a luxury I had long since forgotten after years of taking it for granted before that eviction job in D9, There was a single large window looking out towards derelict houses, this place was very isolated. I had no time to further inspect my room from the bed when the door suddenly opened, a man walked in, he wore a large leather jacket with a white suit shirt underneath and combat print trousers, he was holding a tray in one hand too high to look onto and holding a cane in the other, he was wearing black bikers gloves covering his hands entirely. His face was twisted, on one side his left eye was shut tightly, so tight he had a slight smirk, whilst his right side looked normal and his eye was a greenish blue. He walked towards the bed, supporting himself on his cane and set the tray down on my lap, a traditional English breakfast, only had one once before at gunthers and that was terrible.  
"Eat up", a surprisingly soft English voice said, "you need your strength judging from the run you just had", I greedily scoffed up the plate of food, best meal Id had for almost three years, well except for cat food and tires, dirty pleasures. He walked towards a chair in the room and sat down, leaning on his cane in front of him. "whats your name" he said. My mind raced, if I told him Wikus he might be a spy and throw me to MNU. I had to lie. "Albert, Albert Danladi" I replied as best I could, hard to speak an English name when your new native language is a bunch of clicks. Thank god I picked up the alien language quickly after my normal tongue fell out. "ah your earthborn" he said "yes" I replied, it wasnt a lie I suppose.  
"How did you get out of district 10" he said, "tunnelled under the gates with a spoon" I said, "thats why they shot at me", "I see" he said, rising up from his chair, a pained expression on his face, he grunted with pain after getting up fully and shouted out the door, "Ulysses, he woke up!", he sat back down and in walked in a dark grey, almost black praw...alien wearing a large buttoned up black trench coat. "this is Ulysses" said the man. "Pleasure to meet you" clicked Ulysses cheerfully, outstretching a hand for a handshake, I shook his hand, taken aback by his manners. "Lets leave him to rest" said the man, being helped up this time by Ulysses,"wait, i dont even know your name" I said as he was halfway through the door, "Reece, Reece Braithwaite Anthony Walker" he said. 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 My exhaustion caught up with me and I was asleep before I hit the pillow.  
This dream was different, instead of dreaming of my beautiful Tania, dreaming about her seeing me, dreaming about her rejecting me, i found myself thinking about the previous scenario.  
I thought about the man, his name hadnt sunk in yet, his face, the way his eye was shut so tightly, the smile it forced on his face, his short but thick brown hair and his strange greenish blue eye. I thought about his voice, friendly and reassuring for his appearance. He couldnt have been older than 42. Also how the hell did he have an alien living with him? I would have to ask when I woke up.  
Talk of the devil, I woke up suddenly and shot out of bed instinctively expecting danger, forgetting I was in a safe place, I calmed down and made my way downstairs, I looked through a window in a door and saw the man and the alien were sat in a large room on a sofa eating cereal and watching television. The man was wearing another white suit shirt and plaid trousers, he had a holster around his shirt with a large revolver inside, he still had his left eye shut tight and he had taken his gloves off, revealing his ring fingers were both missing. He had his cane resting against his leg within easy reach should he need to get up. The alien was wearing the same trench coat but upon closer inspection was finely tailored to his unique physiology, for instance small holes were put in the sleeves to allow his arm spikes room to breathe and his secondary arms could easily fit through the gaps between the buttons of the coat, all I was wearing was a few scavenged rags. The man looked towards me with his one visible eye and motioned with his hand to come in, this got him an odd stare from the alien who until then hadnt noticed me until he looked in the doorway and made a sound similar to "oh".  
I walked in and sat down on a large leather sofa in the room. The alien and the man remained silent, I found myself staring at his cane, it was large, jet black and ornately carved.  
I span my head around when he noticed my staring and pretended to look at the TV, more rioting aliens in district 10, "they never ask why they riot, do they" said the alien, looking at me, "no, they dont" I said, not much else to say really. I found my gaze wandering again, wandering to his cane again, this time though he was looking right at me. "Let me guess, youre wondering about my cane arent you?" said the man, startling me. "Yes" I admitted, not holding his gaze. "No harm in asking" he said reassuringly.  
"Well it s a long story, i was only twenty when my parents, both in their sixties won the lottery, over a hundred million sterling, when we calmed down and went on a spending spree we went on holiday, round the world cruise, stopping in every country".  
He breathed in loudly, as if stifling something, "south Africa was the last place on the list, we were not looking forward to it one bit, controversial country at the time you see, anyway we decided to stay the night in south Africa and whilst out for a walk in the daytime with my parents, well the big ship came down".  
He breathed in again, his eye looked like it would well up, and the alien gripped his hand tightly. He continued his monologue "for a while the government had no idea what to do, they were scared, everyone was, some wanted it blown out of the sky, would destroy Johannesburg doing that, some wanted to leave it alone, like a tourist attraction, scientists and sci-fi fans had none of that. In the end they decided to go in, problem was, no professionals wanted to go in, they were recruiting off the street, I applied knowing full well what could happen, I went in to give immediate aid if needed, let me tell you, it was very much needed".  
"I was swamped by the hungry, the sick and the thirsty, they had exhausted all the supplies but there was one left, one who had no aid, they were fully grown at the time so you get an idea of their size. I had to lift the poor...thing out of there, nearly broke my back in the process but hell, no one else would do it, she and I had a strong bond, when I got down in the helicopter, cradling her head in my arms, I took her to the makeshift camp and I gave her water, since that we were inseparable, she viewed herself as female you see, I didnt really understand that myself, youre either male or female arent you. But I digress".  
"Anyway, you dont know this but MNU has had many different names since they began, I cant remember what the name was at the time but they stuck their foot in where the aliens were concerned the moment the camp started up".  
"For a while they stayed out of the way and the aliens business", "you dont mind that word do you" he asked, "no I dont" I replied, "okay, well the aliens didnt misbehave like you see now. They had no reason to, nobody oppressed them at the time". "Then they really stuck their beak in, examining all the supplies, routine tent checks and armed guards everywhere". "Then they sent in agents, men in fancy suits and shoes made to watch the volunteers every move, they sent one in and he was talking to volunteers, every now and then though, someone he had talked to wouldnt come to work".  
"By the end there was only a handful of volunteers left". He said lamentably, staring at his lack of ring fingers. "Then the agent came to me, we talked for five minutes before a burlap sack was put on my head and I was thrown in a waiting van".  
"When I woke I was in a dark room tied to a chair, the same man in the suit started talking to me through a loud speaker, asking me what I knew of a "prawn railroad", I had no idea at the time so i denied it profusely, then two grunts walked in and started knocking the daylights out of me".  
He flashed his teeth at me, revealing them to be mangled and yellow. "Still I said nothing, nothing but complete ignorance to this railroad thing, that time they kicked my leg in, the next time they cut my ring fingers off and after that they put out a cigarette in my eye".  
"After a while they decided they had enough so they threw me to the hospital with a note, I never read it but one of the doctors told me not to go to the police or they would know".  
"I was covered head to toe in bandages for weeks, I ended up coming back to the camp, the soldiers at the front payed me no heed, I reckon they either didnt care or took a bit of pity on me".  
"When I went there i wore a long trench coat, a wide brimmed fedora, a pair of dark sunglasses and of course trousers and shirt, you would think I was the invisible man, human and alien alike stopped and stared, I walked through the eyes trying to pick my bandages apart and took my seat at the aid tent, the same agent poked his head in and quickly left when he saw me, I was in no state to chase him anyway".  
"Then that female one came in, she never told me her earth name, said it wasnt hers so it had no meaning, cant pronounce her real name though or id tell you, she burst into tears when she saw me and ran over to hug me, I had to use my cane to stop her, that hug would do more harm than good".  
By this point I was wide eyed, he had been through so much but still kept going.  
"could I ask you something in private" I said quietly, "of course you can" said the man. "Ulysses, could you leave the room for a moment please?" He said. "Of course" said the alien, leaving the room with the used bowls in hand.  
"So" I said, "why is there an alien living with you outside district 10?"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 "oh well, just before most people were denied entry to district 9, including myself, an alien came to me and begged me to take their egg, they said that MNU had burnt the rest as well as killed their partner and she wanted the egg to have a chance, I hid the egg inside a crate in my tent and waited until nightfall to return home, had to use a hole an alien had dug under the fence's to get the egg through."  
"Anyway" he continued "I managed to contact the alien I told you about earlier, the one I had to carry, for help to raise the egg, we communicated through notes after they shut off district 9, she could read English and I could read alien so it worked pretty well, she gave me advice on caring for the egg and when the egg hatched, the first thing they saw was me, my heart melted when I saw those bright eyes and I know I wasn't the best thing in the world for him to see first but I raised him like my own."  
"Why did you call him Ulysses" I asked him, almost choking on the Ulysses part. "Because he is brave and smart and strong, like the Greek myth". He said "Aren't you worried about neighbours seeing him" I asked looking through a window at the other houses.  
"no one else lives around here, all the houses belong to me, MNU wanted to buy them out to put district 10 here but with some help from rights activists who secretly knew about Ulysses, we managed to keep the land and stop district 10 for a while, now that district 10 is built, they don't care about this place or me anymore."  
"Okay, one last question" I said holding up the equivalent of an index finger "How long has it been since the mother ship left".  
"Hang on a second, Ulysses! Could you bring my calendar please"? He shouted out the room "Sure Reece" replied the alien; I had to commit both names to memory, the alien returned moments later with a calendar of world monuments.  
He handed it to the man who quickly flicked through it before reaching the page he was looking for, "according to this, it left about two years and ten months ago."  
My heart flipped, two months and I get my Tania back, I get skin back, and teeth and hair, I needed to make Tania something again, to let her know I was still here, maybe another flower.  
"Wow, nearly three years" I said, stifling my hysteric laughter.  
"Why did you want to know anyway?" said Reece, his brow furrowing, "oh" I said, searching frantically for an excuse, "I just wanted to know, it was pretty important after all" I said.  
His expression lightened "fair enough" he said shrugging his shoulders and putting the calendar down.  
"I have to go out, the cupboards are getting a bit bare" he said, getting up out of his seat with his cane.  
"I'll be back in an hour or so, got to stock up on plenty of food and drink."  
With that, he left the room, leaving me and the alien in the same room; he shifted nervously, obviously not used to other people.  
"Would you like something to eat or drink?" he said shyly, his confidence diminished away from his "father".  
"No, no thank you" I lied, I was too excited, even two months away from Chris coming back.  
I had to wonder what would happen to Reece, he was alone after all.  



	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 I placed a pair of pitch black sunglasses over my eyes and allowed my damaged eye to uncurl slowly, it felt nice to let it open once in a while, I threw on my leather jacket with the hood and placed my wallet in one of the pockets, I then checked the revolver in my holster, making sure it was loaded I placed it back and zipped up the jacket around the holster.  
I replaced my plaid trousers with a pair of combat trousers and a belt, and i was ready to go out.  
I peeked through a window in the door leading into the living room where I left Albert and Ulysses and saw Ulysses shifting nervously, I never really leave him alone often, let alone with people he hardly knows.  
I walked towards the front door and placed the hood of my jacket over my head before twisting the doorknob and walking into the blistering heat, shutting the door behind me.  
I made my way towards the city, it blurred in the heat, my cane dug into the ground, shifting pebbles with every step, these journeys were uneventful, they were just a painful trek towards a mirage like city, the path was well trodden and empty, no bushes, no grass just dirt.  
As the city got closer, my leg got weaker, weaker and weaker until I had to use my cane as a leg.  
I had reached the outskirts of the city and rushed to get to a bench to sit down.  
I was pouring with sweat, not just the heat but the physical exhaustion, my leg was burning but a bench was within proverbial reach, I reached the bench and felt a wave of soothing cold wash over my leg.  
After about 10 minutes of rest I decided to get up and make my way towards the local store.  
The owner inside recognized me instantly, even with my obscured guise and placed several bags on the counter containing everything I normally buy, I gave him his money and a little extra for being so kind and made my way to the bar, I walked in and was hit by the smell of beer, peanuts and drunks.  
I placed my bags on my lap and waited for the barman.  
Several drunkards stumbled around yelling in Afrikaans at each other, I ignored it obviously, the barman was nowhere to be seen.  
Suddenly, one of the bar files grabbed my shoulder, "got any rand for a starving artist" he slurred, "no, and I don't have any for drunks either" I said, not meeting his gaze.  
"Fok you" he shouted bringing his fist up to strike, I quickly slammed my cane on his foot and as he flailed in pain, scanned the room for camera's, none to be seen.  
I picked myself out of my stool and stood in front of him, leaning on my cane, his "friends" pushed him back over for another round, he brought his fists up in front of his face only to stumble to the side and land face first on a table, he reached for a bottle on the table and slammed it down, the pointed edges pointed at me.  
"Come on then, grab something" he slurred, "gladly" I said as I reached into my jacket and pulled out my revolver, his once brave face quickly sagged and he dropped the bottle in a corner and backed off, only to have his friends toss him back, he brought his fists up pathetically and almost whimpered, I motioned the guns barrel towards the door behind me and he took off like a rocket through it, his friends getting up to catch him and put him back, I repositioned the gun towards them and they took the hint, sitting back in their seats, Everyone else in the bar was too scared or too drunk to get involved.  
I placed the revolver back and awaited the barman.  
He came down a flight of stairs shouting up them in Afrikaans, couldn't understand a word of it myself.  
He sighed and span around to face me, "what!" he shouted, "The missus I'm guessing" I said, "yep, she wants me to turn this place into a more family friendly store like a book store or something, profits in the dirt if I do that" he said "Oh, well you could make it a friendlier bar to compromise" I said "Maybe, there has been a few fights lately, maybe I could make it a bit better than this" he replied, I looked towards the two who kept throwing their friend at me and they quickly span their heads around.  
"Anyway, vodka and rum double on ice please" I said, pointing towards two fairly tasty looking bottles.  
He turned around and poured them before handing the drink over, I had put down 50 rand before he had finished pouring and when he saw the note's on the bar he span around and poured several drinks out in front of me.

I drank them like water, my aim was to get a little drunk, take my mind off the pain, only a little drunk, I didn't want to come home and act violent, not to Ulysses or our new guest, weird one he is.

I had my drinks and didn't get even a little drunk, I picked up my bags and cane and walked out, bidding the barman goodbye, I made the long trek back home, turning around every now and then in case the two from the bar followed me, once again, the trip was uneventful.

I reached home and walked in, sweat poured off me, Ulysses leapt to my aid to take the bags, it's funny he's a decade younger than me but he's about a foot taller, we sat down in the living room, where I posed the question "where's Albert" "upstairs, didn't say why" my son replied, I grumbled to myself before walking slowly and quietly upstairs, I heard him chirping to himself "only two months before I'm Wikus again" he said, these words hit me like a brick, i had heard that name before, that was the man who evicted aliens then got that STD, I see it was pretty virulent, then I remembered, he was MNU, I hated MNU with a vengeance, for what they did to me, and what they did to my sons kind, i charged up the stairs, ignoring the pain in my leg, my son peeked his head through the door and shouted "Dad, what are you doing!", I ignored him and ran to the room we put Wikus in on the first day, I pushed on the door, he had locked it, "Wikus!" I yelled, "I know who you are MNU scum" "please" I heard him beg please, I'm not with MNU anymore, you have to believe me, I'm not like I used to be".

I was banging on the door with my cane, it didn't budge, I had to get drastic, I pulled out my revolver and shot the door handle, the door swung off its hinges, he was cowering in the corner holding a metal rose "please sir please" he begged, I walked over, gritting my teeth with pain, I pointed the revolver at him "give me one good reason, one good fucking reason!" I yelled, he outstretched his hands to me and handed me the rose, it had a note attached to the stem, I pulled the note from the stem and read it, it said "to my dear Tania, this will be the last one I send to you as it is too dangerous now, I want you to remember I will always love you and i will see you soon, in two months the ship comes back and I can be back with you" there were tears on the note, Wikus's tears, I sniffed, my eye began to well up but I kept it back, I carefully folded the note back around the stem and looked him in the eye

I'll give it to her" 


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

I took the rose with the note from Wikus and put it in my pocket, as I made my way to the front door I heard my son say wait, I need to talk to you , I span around and walked into the living room, he followed behind me, dad, he said something about the ship coming down in two months, is that true , he looked at me with those expressive eyes, possibly, I don t know for sure, I hope so though I replied, it s not about home, what s going to happen to you? he said, I ll have to stay on earth, I know MNU or an angry mob will kill me when they find out I m a sympathiser but that s my fate son , can t you come with me? he said, his eyes beginning to well up, I don t know, we ll see when that time comes, come here I said, he leaned down to eye level, I took out a napkin and wiped his tears before hugging him, he returned the hug gently, mindful of the arm spikes and his own strength, I ll be back soon son I said, breaking the hug and walking out of the door on my cane.

At least this time I could take my motorcycle, much less painful, I didn t take it when I went shopping because there s nowhere to put the bags, I walked to one of the houses with the shed in the back and pulled her out, she was a Triumph Bonneville T100, jet black, no screen and a pair of beautiful exhausts, I got on her, checking the rose was secure in my pocket before donning my crash helmet and setting off.

This journey was far more enjoyable, I made it to the city in half the time, I knew where Tania lived because I had seen her house in those documentaries they did on her, I stopped the bike just down the road from her house, so as not to wake her, I walked to her house, my helmet still on, the sun had set already so I blended in with my black helmet and black leather jacket, I walked to her house and dropped the rose through her letterbox, it landed louder than I expected and I saw a room light up, I walked as fast as my cane would carry me back to the motorcycle, I heard the door open, I was close to the motorcycle now but I still heard them, I heard a woman shout Wikus, is that you, Wikus?, Wikus! , I ignored this and climbed on my motorcycle, speeding off before she caught sight of me, she had been through so much, the least I could do is deliver hope.

I rode through the city, headlights blazing, the roads were empty thankfully so i got to the desert road to home fairly fast, this time was more than eventful, halfway down the dirt road home i heard a strange drone, at first it was fairly quiet, I mistook it as the motorcycle engine, but it grew louder and louder, I stopped and shut off the engine, I could still hear it, i craned my neck up and saw a wondrous sight, it was a brown shape in the sky, it encompassed the whole city and was moving across the sky, towards district 10, I could see lights all over the city light up in the distance, sirens sounded and windows shattered.

I sped home with all speed and almost burst the door down, Ulysses was holding a set of bags and a few others rested at his feet, I heard it coming before you did so I started packing all of OUR stuff he said adamantly, not wanting to leave without me, I grabbed the calendar off the kitchen wall and realized my mistake, I had missed out 2 months when I counted it for Wikus, the ship was right on time, where s Wikus? I asked, Outside Ulysses replied, I darted outside, greeted by the sight of Wikus looking up at the gargantuan white shape crawling across the sky, Wikus! We ve got to hurry if we re getting on that I shouted, his head shot at me, and he ran inside grabbing the bags labeled with my name let s go then he said.

We all ran outside, well I ran as much as my leg would let me i led them both behind another house where I kept my car, Toyota Avensis in chrome, we all got inside with me driving, i sped off, not heeding the speed limit straight to district 10 where the ship hovered, a downward facing spire began to extend from below the ship until it was pointing at district 10, suddenly, the area was bathed in a white light, much like a spotlight, missile platforms shot at the ship but the missiles detonated in mid air before they could hit the ship, we kept driving till we could see the gates of district 10, the guards were cowering on the floor their guns nowhere to be found, aliens were emerging from tents tentatively, several brown ships detached from the main vessel they looked a lot like the one seen flying over district 9 three years ago only these were better maintained and slightly larger, they began lowering down into district 10, aliens backed away from the ships, giving them room to land, all this time we were still driving to district 10.

We stopped at the gates and leapt out of the car, aliens piled into these small ships, when one was too full it would close its doors and another would open, we ran in and moved through the crowds, everyone was pushing and shoving for a place, more ships detached from the main vessel to pick up more aliens, by the end there was just me, Wikus, Ulysses and a handful of others, one last ship came down, the other group walked in first followed by my group, several alien guards wearing full body armour pointed their guns at me from inside the vessel, step back human one of them said, Wikus leapt in front of me he s with me he said, barrels pointed in his face, the guards lowered their weapons slowly and let us aboard before shutting the doors and signalling the driver.

I felt the ship lifting up, the others didn t seem to feel it but I did, I felt queasy, like my body had become liquid, I fought through the sensation, the journey up didn t last long fortunately, the doors opened again and we stepped out, we were in a massive room not unlike the one we found them all in when the first ship came down, only cleaner, aliens were put in rows and signed into the ships computers whilst getting the MNU property stickers taken off, an alien wearing some kind of lab coat was walking around bored stiff, obviously wondering why he was even here, that was until he saw me, he ran over, looking me up and down, you, come with me he chirped excitedly, why? I asked, thoughts of an anal probe ran through my head just a few tests, make sure you re healthy , I m in perfect health I lied, leaning on my cane as little as possible, no you re not, are you going to come with me or do I have to make you , I looked over to my son then back to the scientist, fine , he took my hand and led me carefully to a huge brown metal door labelled interview and examination I walked into the door expecting it to open only to bang my head into it, the scientist picked me up, all the doors are DNA locked , that was going to make my time on this ship very difficult, he opened the door for me and I walked in.

There was a large table in the middle of this grey coloured room, much of the ships interiors were brown or grey, There were metal cabinets all across the walls and there was a tray covered in various surgical instruments, lie still on the table please the scientist said, I obliged and laid down on the cold metal table, naked please he said, I got up and raised an eyebrow, why? I asked the medical scanner won t work if you aren t naked he said now please, strip off he ordered, i started taking off my jacket when the door opened up what the hell are you doing c hakllee the second alien said n...n...nothing sir the first one said get out of my sight growled the second one I ll deal with you later

Once the first one had left the room the second one began to speak can you understand me human he said slowly, I nodded my head, he couldn t possibly understand English, good, I m a doctor he said slowly again, I raised my hand to stop him and made the universal motion for writing, he reached into a cabinet and pulled out a piece of paper and pen before handing me both, I wrote down in his language I understand everything you say, I m not speaking because you probably can t speak my language, my name is Reece.

I handed the paper to him, he appeared amazed by the fact I could understand him and quickly jotted down some notes on an almost flat screen with his finger, he put the screen away, okay Reece he choked on my name we need to screen you for any injuries, diseases or underlying medical problems, by the way I m doctor Gaa vchk , nice to meet you I wrote, if you don t mind climbing up on the table Sir.

I climbed up and lay still, he walked over holding a pistol looking thing with a screen facing towards him, he pulled the trigger and moved it up and down my whole body this machine also analyses human anatomy, giving our doctors a better insight into your body, we might not be able to heal you, but the science is valuable, could I ask you to remove those things from your eyes? he said, I realised I was still wearing my sunglasses.

"i'd rather not",i said, "i dont like showing my eye to people", "dont worry about it he said cheerfully", "ive seen some bad stuff, your eye cant be that bad",

He was in the sickbay with an upset stomach when he looked.


End file.
